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Iraq's Dual War

(TCS Daily) Stephen Schwartz - In Iraq, Arab Sunnis constitute only 20% of the population. They tormented and exploited their Shia neighbors for many generations. Now, because they are threatened with loss of their power, they attack their fellow-citizens, driving them out of mixed communities. Why should the Iraqi Sunnis now be the object of so much American and coalition solicitude? Putting the interest of the Sunnis before all else means more Wahhabi terror and more separation, as well as continued obstacles to economic reform and further social disintegration. It also means the reinforcement of extremist ideology in Saudi Arabia, and greater instability in Jordan, as well as heightened anxieties over Iran. Appeasing the radical Sunnis will not quiet them; rather, it will encourage them to further defiance. Who stands behind the imposition of such policies? The Saudi kingdom acts throughout the Sunni Muslim world, protecting those with whom it feels a pseudo-religious affinity.
2006-03-07 00:00:00
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